Rings and other pretty things

Chapter 4 (in which STAR is a functioning member of society)

      
CHAPTER FOUR FOR FOUR THOUSAND FOLLOWERS!!!
Everyone congratulate our lord STAR<3

STAR had quite literally been reading these fanfics for hours. He had finished three books with heavy plots, and countless one shots. The shame he felt earlier had completely dissipated, instead allowing a light joyful feeling dance in his chest.
          The stories he read had a wide variety of plots, one even made him cry from the pure angst the author called an ending. He hadn't even noticed the sun passing the mid point of the sky until he scrolled to see the next fic and there was a meagre three options. None seemed that good, so he went to close the tabs instead of clicking on one of the titles.
Once his mouse hovered over the little x at the top though, he couldn't make himself do it. It was dumb yes. But they had made him feel so much better. Closing the tabs felt like shutting down the very few good emotions he had built in the last couple hours of his life. So instead he moved the cursor over to the minimize option instead. That way he had easy access to the stories, and that made him feel better. In the occurrence that the thoughts that were causing distress returned, he could go back to this bliss with one click of his mouse.
STAR sat back in his chair, glancing quickly to the window. When the realization that wow, he really hadn't left his house in three days hit with the force of a freight train. Feeling slightly disappointed in himself for this he began to search for his keys he knew he had previously carelessly thrown onto his desktop. Once he spotted them underneath a folder of his quick sketches his hand grasped the cold metal and he turned towards the door to his room, he didn't have an exact destination in mind for after he left the house but the fresh air would be good.
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          Florida was warm. Too warm. Sometimes STAR questioned why he still lived here. The air from his ac seeming to just circulate the hot air already inside his car rather than provide the relief of cold air it was meant for. After driving some side streets that led him to no where significant he had made a turn into a part of the city he hadn't visited much.
          It was while he was debating on finding a freezer to stick his head in to cool down that a bright sign caught his attention. It read "The happy café". STAR considered going in for a moment before deciding he had nothing to lose and promptly parked his car in front of the small building.
         It's exterior was made up entirely of bricks, allowing it to blend in easily to the surrounding stores. Perhaps that's why he had never noticed it. Not that he's was around much to see it in the first place. The door opened easily, giving way to a modern interior.
           The first thing he noticed upon opening the door was the blast of cool air that hit his face, which he entirely welcomed. The second thing he noticed was the vibrant green eyes of a waiter fixated on him. Scratch that, the vibrant green eyes of a cute boy, who just so happened to be a waiter, fixated on him.
          "Hi! Can I help you?" suddenly there was no moisture in STARS mouth, whether it was from the heat or the cute boy, STAR would never know. "Um, yeah! Can I sit?" his voice surprisingly didn't crack despite the discomfort in his throat.
         "Yeah! Follow me" The boy steeped closer to grab a menu. The close proximity gave STAR a better look at him. He was shorter than STAR by a few inches. He looked to be around 5'10 with light brown hair and dark eyes that had crinkles around them when he smiled. When he stood with the menu in hand he led STAR to the right side of the small building sitting him in a booth tucked into a corner. The place seemed pretty empty. Nobody but STAR, an old man sitting at the counter and the three employees was present.
        "Thank you! uh..." his eyes quickly glanced down the boys uniform, catching on the name tag clipped onto his chest pocket. "Emerson" he finished with a smile.
         Emerson returned the friendly gesture and took his order (just a water) before hastily turning to fetch the cup. There was no real rush but STAR appreciated his efforts.
         While waiting for his beverage he analyzed the room. It was a nice little café and honestly he was surprised there wasn't more foot traffic in here. It looked very clean, the walls were a white the light bounced off of making every corner bright and inviting. The hardwood floor was stained a deep brown, matching the tables of the few seating places provided, and the building smelled like coffee and a few baked goods he couldn't quite remember the name of.
         "Here you go sir, can i get you anything else?" The water was placed gently in front of him. "Oh no I'm good, thank you!" Usually at this point in a conversation the waiter would walk away and leave the patron to do as they pleased, however Emerson remained where he was.
          "Oh sorry do I pay now or?" STAR was mortified, automatically assuming he was doing something wrong. To be fair it was his first time here but he still felt awkward about not knowing how it worked.
         "Oh no! Just, god it's probably not my place but you look kind of down. Is everything alright?" STAR blinked dumbly for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, I'm totally good!" his tone was an obvious indicator that this was not the truth, he even tacked on some awkward laughs at the end for good measure.
         Emerson narrowed his eyes while peering into STARs. The taller boy began nervously tapping on the table "You aren't buying any of this are you". "Nope!". Well the waiter was technically offering to listen to his issues, and who was STAR to turn that offer down. This was amazing customer service! and he would not be the one to ruin the rate at which this businesses employees cared for their customers!
          "Honestly, I've been a little upset with some friends from the internet". There was a brief silence before Emerson's response. "How can people from the internet make you sad? just turn off the computer. Problem solved." STAR laughed, the water he was holding rippled slightly from the vibrations. "Oh good you took that as a joke, I was worried you would think I was serious and a complete jerk but it was already out of my mouth."
         This guy seemed to be as much of a wreck as STAR and so he told Emerson the most he could about his dilemma while dancing around his online persona, leaving out names and only telling a story along the lines of "my internet best friend who I'm in love with is coming to visit me and I'm a train wreck". Which was the truth! He just didn't need to reveal his identity to Emerson, even if he was one of the cutest boys STAR had ever been blessed to see.
          By the time he was finished Emerson was sitting on the other side of his booth looking down at the table while he thought. "Well, I say you should tell him! and if he doesn't want an attractive guy like you then he's dumb anyways". STAR immediately felt his cheeks heat up at the compliment. Emerson smiled and jokingly  raised an eyebrow at the reaction. With a wave of his hand STAR dismissed it, "it's warm outside"
         "Yeah, I know. I should probably get back to work now, save some other people from the intense heat."
The shorter boy stood from his seat and almost walked off before hesitating "Hey, do you want your check?" It was getting later and STAR still had to plan for tomorrow's stream. "Yeah that would be great".
         Emerson walked behind the counter lingering for a second before coming back and putting the check face down. "Hopefully I'll see you again" he offered a smile before disappearing into the back. STAR flipped his check, reading the price of his water before the scratchy writing in blue ink at the bottom grabbed his attention.
         (407)-563-4238   Call me:) -Emerson

(ps this is a random number i key smashed for please don't call it this belongs to a real person, be civil)

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          On the car ride back STAR decided that thinking about any boy at all was exhausting. The receipt sat neatly folded inside his wallet was hidden away from his eyes, and hopefully therefore his thoughts. Emerson seemed nice and all, but Chump was who he wanted. He always would be.
         Music always seemed to make him feel better so he reached towards the dial on his radio and spun it between his thumb and pointer finger. His rings making light clinking noises when he moved his hands. Adore by Dean Lewis poured from the speakers. STAR recognized the song, he used to listen to it back while setting up for stream with chump, just one song amongst many in his playlist. But it was both of their favourites to just scream together. He missed those days, when they could just be friendly and have fun.
      He hummed along to the lyrics, willing tears away from his eyes when the road began to look blurry behind them. A stray tear fell despite his efforts, a shaky hand left the wheel and wiped it away before almost aggressively spinning the dial to turn off the music completely. The final words of it he heard echoing in his head mockingly.

"I adore you"